E-sense plans to launch youth tabloid priced at Re 1

The youth of Mumbai will now have its own newspaper. A 16-page tabloid that will be published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, will soon be introduced in the market by a newly-launched company, E-sense. The price of the tabloid will be Re 1 and will cover all areas that essentially attracts youth in the age group of 16 to 30.

“We are the pioneers in the concept of targetting only the youth, and thus we are creating a new market for us, which would be free from competition,” said Rahul Bage, Managing Director and CEO, E-sense. He further explained that there was a gap between reality and what youngsters thought, and that the company wished to fill that gap. Moreover, he said that the company’s objective was to represent whatever the youth felt and create a platform for them to raise their voice and share opinions on topics of their interest.

When asked about the marketing plan, Bage came up with a one-liner. “Wherever the youth is, our paper is,” he replied. He further said that the company would use all tools to promote the product in the youth segment. “We will give them what they want,” he added, referring to the younger generation.

Talking about its preliminary research, Bage said that they had taken views from 5,000 respondents across the city, and that they had also taken help from Chetna Institute of Management and Research in this regard.

With staff strength of 22, the company has recruited young writers and reporters below the age of 25. Commenting on the strategy to have young writers, Rajeev Pai, Editor-in-chief, said, “Experience is sometimes overrated. There are a number of ‘experienced’ journalists who are good for nothing, except for gossiping and backbiting. We are building a young team because we believe it will be more in sync with our target audience; it will think like them, have similar concerns, and understand their thought processes.” Pai added that these bright youngsters have above-average potential, and that they will gain necessary experience over a period of time.

The 16-page tabloid, which is expected to be in the market after a couple of months, will cover areas like education, fashion, culture, sports, personal finance, entertainment, careers, new trends, and anything and everything that the youth likes to read about. The company is in process of having its space on the Internet and will encourage interactivity through blogs and various other means. Dangat News Agency (DNA) will be the tabloid’s sole distributors.